Damascus rug

Damascus rug, usually small floor covering, often attributed to Damascus, Syria, in the 16th or 17th century in continuation of the rugart of the Mamlūk rulers of that land. The usual Damascus field pattern is a grid of small squares or rectangles (hence the European term chessboard carpets), each of which includes a hexagon or octagon filled with tiny radial motifs that surround a star interlace. Among the other field patterns that occur is a large one with several medallions.

Detail of the field pattern of a Damascus rug, 17th century; in the Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.

Learn More in these related articles:

Among the 15th- and 16th-century Mamlūk carpets of Egypt, star, octagonal, and octofoiled centrepieces were preferred, without the other elements mentioned. In Ottoman Turkish and Egyptian classic carpets, the lobed circle was the most common medallion form, as it is in more recent Chinese carpets. Ottoman weavers used the quarter-medallion cornerpiece, but the Chinese preferred to...